site.btaTurkish Authorities Detain over 120 People in Operations against Illegal Gambling, Drug Trafficking

Turkish authorities detained more than 120 people on Friday in separate operations targeting illegal gambling in Istanbul and drug trafficking in Ankara.

According to the Haberler website, a total of 68 people were detained in an investigation by teams from the Cyber ​​Crimes Department of the Istanbul Security Directorate under the coordination of the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. The investigation was launched based on an evaluation report prepared by the Financial Crimes Investigation Board.

Large sums of money received through electronic payment platforms were transferred to various bank accounts, and then a large part of the funds were transferred to cryptocurrency service providers. According to investigators, the transaction descriptions contain elements that could be related to illegal gambling activities.

The investigation teams have determined that a total of 100,025 transactions worth TRY 76,284,877,311 (over EUR 1.4 billion) were made on the accounts in question, some of which were transferred to cryptocurrency service providers.

A large part of the amounts transferred in cryptocurrencies were converted into USDT (a US dollar-pegged cryptocurrency) and transferred to external wallets – a method used to conceal the money trail. The investigators concluded that this financial activity was acquired from illegal gambling income.

In separate operation in Ankara, arrest warrants were issued for 119 people suspected of drug trafficking, promoting drug use through social media and publishing content promoting drug use, Turkish state television and radio TRT Haber reported.

Of the 119 suspects, 63 have been detained, 26 are known to be already in prison for various crimes, and efforts to detain the remaining 30 or so people are ongoing.